Marine turbine.



J. WILKINSON. MARINE TURBINE. APPLIUATION FKLED snr'r. e, 1904.

Patented Aug. 10,1909.

( dis'connec'tec 35...

UNITED sTATE PATENT" OFFIOEL JAMES WILK'tnsoN, 0F; BIRMINGILHL Ame-rim;.issrcxoii to WILKINSON TURBINE conrlmyii CORPORATION O'F-AIAB'A-MA.

. TURBINE.

Specification Letters Patent.

'Paitented Aug; 10, 1909.

m nimum Septeniber 6,1904; fsezial'no 223,536.

tjknown that I; J'QMES Wynmmsom-zr of the; United States, residingsit-Birmmgham, ,in, the county ol -J efi'e1's( n and StaseIofAlabams,have invented new and useful Improvements in Marine lurbinegof WlH'Ql'lthe 'follownigi 1s a s 'iecificatiorn I My nwen-tmn relates to compoundreversible turbines Particularly designed and adapted 'for,marine-propulsion.

"'c a se" 1 rote turbine has been used to" reverse the; vessel, it hasheretofore been the 'pmtice 'to. connect itwith shaft of a.' f o r-- am,arrangement-hot only unnecessarily; in-

creases the Work on the forwardturbines, but also-produces a frictionalwear upon the revel s i'ng "turbines which it is desirable, to avoid,,Acco'rding to In}: I n-esent' invention, 1-.mount thereversmg tur uneup'on'a short shnfgja i'rang'ed in alinem'ciit with and dis" posed endto end to'the main propeller shaft,

normally operated by a forward driving tura bine. provide a clutchmechanism where-v bytlie shafts may ,be coupled up -when "it desiretltohringthe reversing: turbine into service to 0 )eratm'the propellerslin-l t and i when "the lorward dri ing turbine is in service. v v IOne object ofin v intention therefore, isto ro v'ide means fordisconnecting a reversing tom :1- forward driven propeller shaft, and Idesire to claim this arrangement broad without limitation toxthefriction clutch which is my preferred means.

It -is-.a further object totprovl'de against the POSSlbllll}? oinmtorfiu'idbeimg snnultoneousl r admitted to both turbines, b5"

-using;a common controller mechanism for them and so connecting'it upwith the clutch. mechanism, that as the latter is moved into and-out ofoperation. the motor fluid su ply will be cut oil from one ortheothertur me.

It is afurther' object to construct either or both turbines soas toutilize the motor fluid pressure in; a novel manner to assist incounteracting the thrustof the propeller.-

These and other improvements-inthe construct'iun and arrangement ofliarts com- 1y drive the'vesselforvi'i -rdfare forced to drwethe idlereversing tu rbines Such prised linn 'y- 'n-esent invention are hereinaft'er rnol'e 'ful ex d'ained,reference-being had to the accompany ngdrawings, where- 1n:-.- w v i Figure 1, is -a' side e-lerationofbot-liturbines', s1 town partly'in section, the controller mechanismbeing shown the position when the reversing turblne [1 s "l1la( 3tlVG 2,

shows the controller mechanism 'in' the position when both turbines",are innctive,* and t ,p t .-'heh the r e in -We bmealon'e s actlve. Fi'glg-is a de't'ei-l.show-' ing thegrelative pressurc ei'eit'sj'airoundttheshalt; V

Similar reference characters refer to the I same parts-throughout,

The turbine 1;, mounted-ionshed plate 2,.

' is groyided with a' plurality'of bucket wheels. 3 eyed orother'wrsesecured to the propeller shaft 4, which is mounted-in bearings .5 v and"6; th'elat'ter of which is adapted to serve as :rthru'st bearing forshalt 4 -wl1ich may-be g rovided with one or, more p 'onellers 7.hefs'e'veljal wheels 3 areiprovided-wit-h shouldered hub portions,-between which are interposed spacer rin s 8 of a thickness almost equalto that of t 1e hub portions.- Suitable packing devices are.disposedbetween these rings and the diaphragins 9 which divide the interiorOftlr-turbine into wheel compartmerits. It will be noted-that no ring 8is disposed betwe en the first wheel and the supply head 10., tlieshsftA being reducednt 11 and packin' dei ices 12 otany desired characterplacer thereon in astufling box 13'.to prevent the leakage of pressurearound the shaft.; Bythis arrangement the high pressure admitted in themanner hereinafter described, to the first wheel compartment acts'againstt-he first wheel in a manner to assist theibearinfi'i-n'coun-teracting the thrustdue will be ex osed to the compartmentpressure on the sine of the wheel toward the exhaust than toward the sup1y end of the turbine. This is more clearly s iown by the dotted circlesa and b which illustrate, by the area be tween them, the extent to whichthe wheel is unbalanced. lnthis manner other of the wheels maylLG-llilbitlt'tlltf'tl by varying their exposed areas on opposite sides.The essential feature of this part of my im cntion is that the group ofwheels [should be unbalanced bythe governed or variable. motor fluidpressure in the turbine, hence any other arrangement for varying theexposed areas of the wheels so as to unbalance them may be used. Since.the thrust of the propeller varies with the number of' its-revolutionsper minute and the rotation of the propeller "shaft varies with thesupply or first stage pressure, itwill be seen that the internalpressure and-the ropeller thrust will vary simultaneously. n otherwords, as the internal pressure unbalancing the wheels rises or falls,the propeller thrust will increase or diminish, so that these influencesacting on the grou of wheels may be made to 'substam tially ba ance eachother under varying conditions. I I The shaft 4 has a shoulder 14against which the last spacer ring abuts, a packing gland 15, carried bythe exhaust head 1 6, surrounding the ring and preventing leakage atthis oint. A conduit 17 connects the exhaust ead with a-condenser 18.

The reversing turbine 19 is mounted upon the bed late 2 and providedwith wheels 20 having t leir buckets disposed in a verse manner to thebuckets of wheels 3, in turbine 1. These wheels 20 are fired to ashortor stub shaft 21 mounted in bearings 22, 23, and disposed end to endwith. shaft .4. Spacer rings 18, as in turbine 1, are placed I betweenthe wheels, the-last ring-24 being screwed on the shaft, which is notshouldered. The first wheel is unbalanced 'as in? dicated b the dottedcircles, and'. -acts to assist the caring 6 to counteract the thrustdueto the pull of the propeller shaft whenv driven by the reversing shaft21-. box 13, for shaft 21, is connected :to the suply head 25 of thereversing turbine, which is subdivided into wheel compartments bydiahragms 9, and provided with a condu tv condenser 18. The adjacent endsof shafts 4 and 21 proect'beyond their res ective bearings 5 and 22, arecessed disk 28 eing keyed toshaft 4-,

and a friction wheel 29 to the shaft 21. The.

disk 28 has a flange=30 adapted to be clamped betweentherim 31 .of wheel29' and a movable sleeve 32, between which parts the flan e normallyruns freely. When it is desired to operate the reversin turbine, acollar 33 on shaft 21 is move by a lever 34 and, by means'of links 35,forces the cams 36, which are pivotally connected to studs fastened tothe rim 31 and projecting through the sleeve 32, against the sleeve-sothat 1t,- in turn, is forced into frictional engagement with the flange30 of the disk 2S.' The disk and wheel bein keyed to shafts 4 and 21respectively, will thus not as a clutch to couple these shafts up, whenthe admission 65 -of motor fluid to turbine19will reverse the a lever510 n0tche( at 41 and 42, an

nected to the fluid pressure controller mech- 26 eading fromits exhausthead 27 to the 'diate point, to a slip collar 38 surrounding collar 33..Near its uppenend the lever is provided with a In .or pin 39 whichsupports conanism, which will now be briefly described.

My controller mechanism, which is more fully described and claimed inLetters Patent issued to me, comprises-acasing 43, mounted on supports44 connected to turbine 1, to which igh pressure-is suppliedthroughaipe- 45. Within the casing is a cylindrical ho low valve shell 46exposed at one end to the atmospherethrough a port 47 and provided witha singlerow of ports 48 which register with one or the other of two rowsof ports 49 and 50 leading through casing 43. -;A port- (not shown)admits the high pressure in the casing to the other end of the shell,and a pressure tight piston 51', movable therein act-s to exposeports 48to one or the other ressures. .As shown -in'Fig. 1, ports 48 reg- .isterwith ports 50 which communicate with pipes 52 leading to motor cvli11ders,'53 in 1 cad 10 of turbine 1., At the same time the shell 46is" so constructed that it .e vposes orts 49 to the high pressure inthecaslng 43.

. hese ports communicatewith apluralitywf pipes 54, which lead across tomotor'c v' in-- ders 55 in head 25 of 'turbine'19. The admission ofhighpressure to cylinders 53 and 55 acts against piston operated valves 56to cause them'to close ports .57., which admit-motor fluid pressure fromsup; ply passages 5810 the supply nozzle passages 59 of turbine l, andto the rcversely disposed nozzle passages 60 for turbine .19. s'iredsprings may be used to assist the con- -troller pressure in closing:valves 56 against the motor llllld pressure.

desired number of nozzle passages .59 01160,

arranging them around the tur bines,- or

grou ing them.

W 1011 a motor cylinder is exposed to the atmosphere, which is the casewhen the pipe that leads from it toa port in casing 43 is incomnnmication with the atmosphere in shell 46, the supply pressure willopen the valve against the spring and flow through a supply nozzle whichdirects it against the-buckets in the first. wheel compartment. Thenceit flows through succeeding stage noz'zles against the several bucketwheels tothe. ex-

not, as desired. 1

When the ports -18,'in shell 46, register with'the ports 49 .in thecasing, the pipes 52 will beexposed' to' the high pressuremdhc casingand the several supply Valvesfurt'urbme 1 moved-thereby to arclos'ed)osmon to' cut that turbine out of service.

he shell is.

1f dc- I may provide any haust, valvesbeing used between stages'or lutchis disengage l toc'ause the clutel members to engage and preferably acrank 57, whichj is voted to thelexzer 4U, b'efore'referred to.

he nwvementof the piston .51-in the shell exposesmoreor less; of theports 48 to the exhaust- )ressu-re, thus causing the valves, con-rtroller bythe pipes with which said ports-are in register, to opensu'ccessively. As shown in Fig. 2, t.h shell is in a position to exposebothisets ofjports g9 and 50 to the high pressure in the casing, which,will close the valves ofbothturbines. In Fig. 3, the valves ofturbine-1would,be,closed by the admission couple :up the shafts,'itsmovement will carry the lever 40 with; it, shifting it'to the positionshown in dotted lines In this latter position the controller, shell willoccupy the position shown in Fig. when the turbine 1 will be cut-out ofservice and the reversing turbine utilized to drive shaft 4. 'Thelever-40 maybe lifted out of engagementwith the'pin, if desired, to moveit to the intermediate position shown in Fig. 2, or to enable the clutchand controller mechanism to be operated independently. j V

The construction of the controller mechanism,. as well as the valvesfandtheir mo' tors,1'epresent. onl preferred forms, and

may be varied without affecting; the spirit of my invention. h Thethrezuledring 24, in turbine 19, serves the purpose of a'cireular nut,having suitable openings for. aspanner wrench and acting tohold theseveral wheels and rings tightly against a locking ring 61 which isseated m. a

channeli'fi. in shaft 21., A packing gland 63 surrounds saidnu-t; Theturbine 1 has a lockingring 64, corresponding to 61 and seated. inachannel in'shaft' l.

I have sl1owi1, tlnec each 0f the pipes 52* and 54, leading respectivelyto cylinders 53 and'55, only one of each of which is shown,

the others being disposed around the supply head, The number of pipesused may be varied and each. pipe may control one or ,morev'alves 56 U gI .Havmgthus described my mVeIIUOIL-rrliat I claim as ne's and desire toprotect by LettersPatent,-is:', i f ;j"..

1.- The combination of a propellershaft, a forward driving turbineconnected thereto.

asecond shaft a separate and independent reversing turbine connectedthereto, and a friction clutch toronnect and disconnect stud shafts.-

The combination with two. reversely acting turhmes,'o f separate shaftstherefor disposed substantially in alinement; clutch means to connectsaid shafts, and a propeller 'driven'by said shafts.

3'. Thei'combination with. two reverseiv acting turbines, of separateshafts therefdr disposed end to end, clutch means to connect.

said shaft-s, means adapted to beoperated by said clutch means to cutone or, the other of said turbines out of service.

4. The combination of two reversely act ing turbines, 'acontroller'means adapted to out one of saldturbines out-of servicebefore admlttlng'motor fluid 'to the other, separate shafts for-saidturbines, a propeller driven one of said shafts, and means for connectmgand disconnecting said shafts which is so coupled up with saidcontroller means that when one of said turbines is disconnected by saidmeans from the propeller shaft its sup-- ply of motor fluid is cut off.v 5.. In combination, a propellenshaft, a turbine for driving saidshaftforward, a reversing turbine, a shaft therefor, a clutch means toconnect said shafts, alever for operating said clutch, and meansoperated by,

said lever to cut 'oifthe sup-ply of motor fluid to said reversingturbineyiwhen it is disconnected from the propeller shaft; and to the;forward driving turbine when the reversing "turbine is connected to saidshaft. j

6. in a compound marine turbine, a for ward-drivingand a reversingturbine each having a plurality of fluid pressure nozzle passages valvemeansto open and close said passages, a controllerrneans for said valvemeans which operates them to close the nozzle passages of one turbinebefore opening those oft-he other turbine. separate shafts forsaid-turbines, a clutch for connecting said shafts, a deviceforoperating said'clutch,

which is also operatively-connected to said controller means,substantially as described. .7. The combination oftworeverselyactingturbines on different'shafts, a clutch to connect said shaft-s, aleverto operate said clutch, a common controller means for both turbinesA comp: ising a valve which controls the operation of fluid pressureactuated means to cut one turbine out of service when the other isactive, a rod for-operating said.

"alve a connectionbeiween said rod and lever whereby the movement of thelatter will shift the position of.said valve.

8. The combmation of two reversely acting turbines on different shafts,a clutc'lrtoconnect said shafts, a'lever toloperare said clutrln-acommon controller means for both turbines comprlsmg 'a' valvewhlc-hcontrols the operation of fluid pressure actuated means to cut oneturbine out of service when.

the other is'active, anopera'ting rod connected to means .for o ratrngsaid valve; a

log on said lever, am notches in said rod poses descri d- 9.- In amarine turbine, a1 ropeller-shaft,

' a lthrustl bearin therefor, ucket' wheels fined'to said she andmeansto unbalance" one o r 1 nore of said wheels-so that (the pres-- .sure inthe turb ne assists in the thrust of said shaft;

1 -10} compound .marine; a forward 10 rive Prop e t;

' turbmes, a thrustbearing for said shaft, and

"driving; and a reversing; turbine' adapted to means to unbalance aWheel in each turbine that theinternalv pressure therein assiststhrustzj rhearing 1n'-' counteractin the P h9 fl l l1th1justofsaid'propeller sha t., 115-111 aimarine turbine, a propeller shaft,.-

biieliet-iwheels jfiked to said shaft, and -spacerring a'su'rrouiidingsaid shaft.- aiid disposed newest; wheels, the ring or rings acting toexpose'less ofthe shrface of one side of one or. more ofs'aid'wheels tothe-pressure with? in; the turbine, whereby it or they are unbalanced inQ a." j'manner to counteract the 1,2, Ina marine turbine, a propellershaft, athrust-bearing there-for,'buc et wheel coinpartmfents formed bydiaph ragm's', bucket wheelsljiiisposed in said com 'artments and fixdkto'said shafts, and t hic spacer rings surroundingzsaid shaftopposite-said diaphragmsg'and; in" engagement with j t eadja;ipbiltfaees mf -the ,Wh'eels between which they having a greater-surfaceexposed to the com partnient'pressnre-on' one side than on thecouhilddtt the? thrust of propeller shaft.

a marine turbine, a propeller shaft, a "forward driwing ii-nd a:reversing. turbine adapted to drive said shaft, and meansadapted,to-isimultaneously disconnect one'of-said .j turbines' fromsaid.-shaft and'cut it out of thereversingbuckets from said shaftand tocut off the supply ofmotor fluid from said reversing buckets.-- v

' 15. In amarine turbine, a propeller shaft, bucket bearing elementsconnected thereto,

forward driving buckets connected to part of- "said elements andreversing buckets con- "nectedto other of said elements. means tocontrol the flow of motor fluid against, said lmckets, and means tosubstantlally simulasand for the pur-x ments bearing one. set ofbucketsfrom said shaft and reverse the flow of the motor fluid :so that it actsagainst the buckets carried by the other element or eleinents whichac-tcounteracting ucket- Wheelsinsaid taneously disconnect the element orele to drive said shaft.

,1'6. T he combination of apropeller shaft, a forward drivin turbinefixedly connected thereto, a sec-on shaft, a reversing turbine connectedthereto, and a friction clutch to connect-and disconnectsaid shafts.

.17. In a multi-stage turbine, diaphragm partit ons dividing theinterior of the turbine into stages, bucket wheels dis )osed insaid"stages, a shaft sup )orting sai wheels, and

a' propeller driven y said shaft, the bucket Wheel 1n a high pressurestage having une ual areas of its sides exposed to the motor fuidpressure in said sta e so that said pressure unbalances the whee andopposes the thrust of said ropeller against the group; of wheels. i 18.n a turbine operating by stage expansion of the motor -fluid,- stage com)artinents, bucket wheels rotatable therein, a propeller shaft driven bysaid wheels, at

thrust'bearing for said'shaft, means to pass motor fluid through saidstage compartments, and ,means'to unbalance the whee in the initialstage so that the motor fluid "therein acts against the propellerthrust, in

the manner described.

19. In a multi-stage. turbine, a casing, rotatable parts thereincomprising a shaft and a plurality of bucket wheels mounted thereon, suply and stage nozzles through which motor uid is discharged against saidwheels, a propeller driven by said shaft, and means to utilizethevinotor fluid in the highpressure stageor stages to oppose the thrustof said 'propeller which consists in providing the ro- Y tat-a bl'eparts with such areas exposed to the said stage pressure that they areunbalanced thereby and act in t-he'manner described.

20. The combination with a ropeller shaft, of two independent turbineunits adapted to drive the same im'lependently, said units being,disposed and adapted to receive the motorfluid from reverse directionsand one acting to drive the shaft in a reverse direction to the other,and means utilizing the int ernal pressure of the turbine which isdriving the propeller snaft to unbalance the rotating parts thereof andcounteract the thrust or pull of the propeller, substantially asdescribed,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JAMES WILKINSON. Witnesses:

"NOMIE WELsI-t. H. M. H ARTON.

